The Jaguares' fairytale run is the story of the season
Four consecutive road wins have sent the Jaguares near the top of the South African conference and reinvigorated Super Rugby with an underdog story for the ages.
The Jaguares arrival to the competition has closely resembled the nature of their namesake.
After limping through their first two seasons they looked endangered and on the fast track towards extinction, nothing more than a SANZAAR experiment gone awry.
But in 2018 they have backed up their place in the competition, and have stalked and ambushed their prey across unfamiliar territory over a remarkable four weeks.
Under the tutelage of 15-year Pumas veteran Mario Ledesma the Jaguares have proudly marched where no side has gone for a number of years, providing a competition starved of interest with its greatest storyline.
Their current streak of four consecutive wins beats a previous franchise record of three, and is made even more impressive by the fact that all four have come on the road.
To put things in perspective, in their first two years of existence, the Jaguares managed to notch a total of four wins away from home – two coming against sides that no longer compete in Super Rugby; the Kings and the Cheetahs.
One week after beating the Blues – achieving a feat that no Australian side has been able to accomplish in their last 36 attempts – the Jaguares became the first team since May 2014 to record two consecutive away wins in New Zealand when they outlasted the Chiefs 23-19 on Friday night.
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Stingy defence, improved discipline and pure passion has been the key to the Jaguares’ magical run.
After surrendering 75 points across their first two fixtures of the season, they have allowed just 74 points during their historic four game stretch – an average of 18.5 points per outing. Before embarking on their Australasian tour they let in an average of 32.8 points per game.
In terms of discipline, an area where the Jaguares have struggled in the past, the side are much improved.
After finishing last season with 12 yellow cards, good for second most in the competition, the men in orange have been shown yellow just four times across the course of the season, improving from a rate of 0.8 cards per match last year to just 0.36.
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With the Jaguares firmly in the mix after playing solely for pride at this point of the season during their first two years, it can’t be overlooked just how much pride and passion this side plays with.
“Really proud of the work they’ve put in since the beginning of the season,” said Ledesma after defeating the Chiefs.
“I hope everybody in Argentina is proud too.”
With just four games remaining, the proud Jaguares can be assured that they have all of Argentina behind them as they make a playoff push and look to separate themselves in the South African conference.
Currently sitting second in the conference and seventh overall with a record of six wins and five losses, the Jaguares are just one win shy of equalling their best record and with a light end-of-season schedule they should approach a new franchise record after finishing last season with seven wins.
The Jaguares’ final four regular season fixtures will see them play three times at home after a week of rest, before finishing the year in Pretoria.
Ledesma’s men will only play within their conference until the end of the season, providing a fantastic opportunity to nail down a playoff spot. They’ll take on the Bulls twice (home and away), the Stormers and the Sharks after they evened their ledger with the Lions in week six.
Only time will tell how long this fairytale run will last, but it can be guaranteed that no side will be taking the Jaguares lightly when they come to town.
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Comments on RugbyPass
Let’s be honest. The draw and scheduling in the World Cup was a joke but South Africa found a way after having to go the hard (nearly impossible) way to the Cup Final via France and England. NZ had a hard game against France (lost) and had 5 weeks to prepare for the Quarter, 3 weeks knowing it was Ireland. NZ theerfore had to win one big game against an Irish team who played SA and then Scotland 7 days before. They won and it was de facto a semi final because they were playing a relatively weak Argentina team and it was a walk over. In the final a very rested NZ team was playing a very tired SA team and still lost. They couldn’t score more than 11 points. Put another way SA had to find a way to win while tired and they achieved that. NZ should thank their lucky stars that they fixed the scheduling in 2015 otherwise they would be dealing with a Bok treble.
92 Go to commentsPerhaps if Bongi wasn’t targeted and removed from the game in the first 3 minutes it would have been quite a different game. Maybe if NZ also faced the same competition the Boks faced to their win NZ would have looked quite different. The final score shows who outplayed who.
92 Go to commentsRubbish article! Abuladze played most of Exeters matches when fit. He got injured against Glasgow a while ago and is out for the rest of the season, thats why he hasnt played for Exeter and Georgia recently. Do some proper research next time!
1 Go to commentsGotta love it when kids throw their toys out the pram and can’t hack it with the grown ups debate. Here’s looking at you turlough! 😉🤣
145 Go to commentsThey lost the game period move on
92 Go to commentsSpringboks won! Stop winging. You can change the game however much you and your rugby colonizing IRB want to and the Springboks will win you at that too. Your mind is colonized my friend get a life
92 Go to commentsBen, nobody gets fooled anymore by selective and biased data to support an hypothesis. Games are decided on such small margins these days that you win some and lose some, and dominance is a thing of the rugby past. Look at the RWC circle of fortune…. Ireland beats SA who beat France who beat NZ who beat Ireland. And so it goes on. Match officials help to eliminate real indiscretions. If they had been with us years before, no doubt results would have been different. Remember Andy Haden’s dive from a lineout in 1978 for which a match-wining penalty was awarded? Wales should have beaten the ABs that day. They took the loss like the gentlemen they were.
92 Go to commentsWith all the analysis and how good the all blacks were.The fundamental mistake with the ABs is that this is a test match and not an exhibition.There is no better team(country) in world rugby than the Boks that knows how to win a test match(we are post masters at this).We know our rules, we have the discipline, we tackle like beasts, we take our points and we never give up.I now have educated the ABs supporters(at least say thank you).Please stop “bitching” , accept what the outcome is and move along swiftly.
92 Go to commentsAnd they came from behind to win two big games before the final. No one can say what would have happened. Had the boks gone behind the game plan changes and the result may changes. Ifs and ands are irrelevant. The boks won. Neutral critics enjoyed the games they played. Its not a popularity contest. Get over it and move on.
92 Go to commentsI'm happy for the people of SA to get a second WC. And I mean that. I was very disappointed with this man's “stand on the hand” incident with Josh Van Der Flyer (Ireland). Ireland's downfall in the last WC was they did not rotate their first 15 as the head coach probably should have. That said, I'm happy for SA and genuinely hope it lifts the mood in their country. Ireland did beat them in the first match of the tournament. And before the trolls start trolling ….. please don't bother. Etzbeth said recently that the Irish players said after the match “see you in the final”…..this was actually wishing the SA team the best of luck in the rest, the Irish team were not dismissing the AB’s. This is what Etzbeth was implying. But he was wrong. I no longer live in Ireland. But I hope to see them lift that cup before I pass. Anyway, congratulations SA. 👍
12 Go to commentsMore bloody click bait. Dan Carter has said absolutely nothing. As he should do. Poor journalism again from a site that should know better
9 Go to commentsOh god please help these loosers get over it!!!! You lost. Doesn't matter how many times you dummies are gonna analyse the game, you still lost and we are still Rygby World Champions….get over it, you lost.
92 Go to commentsThe next Willie le Roux. SA are made not to use him.
3 Go to commentsDan has always been as controversial as tea with milk so we were never going to get any definitive answer. So DMac for the win.
9 Go to commentsGoodness. When are the All Blacks and New Zealand commentators going to stop complaining about how they could have won and just try to win next time 😂. In South Africa if you lose you get up and try again. Get over it.
92 Go to commentsHonestly, it doesn’t matter a whole lot. RSA has a ton of experienced talent in its leadership group. I am more interested in who is the new 8 man/8 men and the younger props. The captain may change but the system does not
1 Go to comments“See you in the final” can mean whatever you want it to mean. To me it means that 12 Irish rugby players are a bunch of poeses. See y’all in Pretoria.
145 Go to commentsBen, you are one of the most arrogant and self opionated rugby critics I have ever come across (next to Keohane). I hoped that after SA beating the best ranked teams in the world on their way to the WC (something not done before) that you might have the grace to admit that this is a special team that deserved the accolades coming their way. You have no humility and as has been been already pointed out, merely a troll to attract audience numbers. Count me out in the future.
92 Go to comments‘War of independence’. Such a grand name for a few skirmishes. Where were all the great battles of this ‘war’ ? Smith got goosebumps as he was being emotionally manipulated, another mushroom.
1 Go to commentsFor all those disputing the veracity of Etzebeth’s very public recollections of the Irish players’ comments, I have one question: should we be holding our collective breath in anticipation of a barrage of strenuous denials from the Irish squad? Then again, perhaps not…
145 Go to comments